Seven Things You Definitely Want to Disinfect

While you’re waging the war against cold and flu season, don’t forget to sanitize these commonly overlooked germ factories to help prevent the spread of whatever bug is going around:
1. Remote controls
2. Computer keyboards (use care not to overspray!)
3. Cell phones, land line handsets and answering machines
4. Bottles and packaging that contain prescriptions, over-the-counter medicine and vitamins that are handled by someone who has a contagious illness
5. Ditto on boxes of tissues, magazines or anything else being handled frequently by someone who is ill
6. Pillows and blankets used by someone who is recuperating in a common area of the home, like the TV room.
7. If someone in your household who drives becomes sick with a cold or flu, disinfect the steering wheel, door handles, gear shift and dashboard devices in their vehicle.
8. Don’t forget the obvious: refrigerator doors, faucets, toilet handles, doorknobs, stair rails and light switches.
One more tip: When someone comes down with a cold in your home, give them their own hand towel and tube of toothpaste to use. Toothbrushes hold lots of germs, and if the ill person’s toothbrush comes in contact with the opening of the tube of toothpaste when they squeeze it out, everyone who uses that tube will pick up the germs.